Episode Title:
Festival
Episode Description:
Shisui brings Maomao to the harvest festival and shows interest in her hair stick from Jinshi, which Maomao won't give up. Shisui explains the village's history involving western settlers, and the symbolism of the fox masks' red and green paint, linked to the prevalence of color blindness. Maomao deduces the settlers are from the same group as that of the Mother Royal's. The festival ends with a ritual burning of last year's masks, said to grant wishes if fully burned.
After the festival, Maomao demands Suirei's resurrection medicine recipe. Suirei shares it, and her own theories on how to refine it, such as not using thornapple, which was likely added to the original to prolong unconsciousness for enslavement, with memory loss as a side effect. Maomao offers herself as a test subject, which Suirei refuses. While Suirei leaves, Maomao studies the formula, cared for by Shisui, whose hairdressing and massaging skills stem from harsh training from her mother. Later, Maomao's attention is drawn to an unharvested patch of rice by a storehouse. Kyou-u sneaks Maomao out to the storehouse, and picks the lock for them to enter. There she finds Suirei's lab and, with metal tubes, a feifa assembly workshop. They're caught inside by Shenmei with envoy Ayla.
